Tonnes of sand in Vallimalai govt school playground to be probed into

VELLORE: The Vellore Chief Educational Officer (CEO) G Munusamy has ordered an inquiry into the presence of tonnes of sand in the compound of a government higher secondary school at Vallimalai near Vellore on Tuesday. The issue came to light when reporters came to Periabodinatham village in Katpadi taluk to cover a resident Nageswaram’s suicide on Monday.

According to the FIR registered by Melpadi police based on a complaint from M Balaji (42), younger brother of the victim Nageswaran who committed suicide due to mental stress he experienced after lodging a complaint with the Melpadi police on December 3 against G Krishnan, a nearby land owner. Krishnan along with his sons and Perumalkuppam village panchayat president Koteeswaran brought an earthmover and destroyed a panchayat water tap and five banana trees. Krishnan destroyed them, as he wanted a path to his land. The complaint was signed by the villagers.

However, there was no police action. Meanwhile, Krishnan, his sons, Koteeswaran and Katpadi PU chairman Velmurugan came to Nageswaran’s house and demanded that he withdraw the complaint and threatened him with dire consequences if he failed to do so.

What pushed Nageswaran to the extreme step was the police ‘summon’ asking to him to come to the station on December 26.

Locals, supported by some PMK men, refused to allow the body to be taken for post-mortem. Following this, police registered a case naming Velmurugan in the FIR.

Meanwhile reporters, who went to cover the suicide issue, saw a huge quantity of sand accumulated in the local school and immediately alerted CEO Munusamy.

When a senior AIADMK functionary contacted the Katpadi tahsildar and demanded to know the source of the sand, the latter told him that the VAO had been ordered to inform the PWD. Subsequently, the PWD planned to auction the sand.

When asked for his reaction, the CEO replied, “I came to know about the issue only through reporters and the school HM told me that the sand was voluntarily sourced to level the school ground where water stagnated regularly.”

When this reporter asked the CEO for the HM’s name and other details, the CEO said he did not know.